Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Community Advisory Board comprises members from across the Mountain West, a geographical area that includes Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. Membership includes cancer survivors and representatives from government organizations, health care systems, community organizations, and American Indian tribes. The Community Advisory Board works with leaders and staff across Huntsman Cancer Institute to engage the community in cancer research, clinical services, education, and prevention efforts and prioritize opportunities to improve community health.
Board Members
Mallory Carvalho
Cancer Advocate
Byron Clarke, JD, MBA
Chief Operation Officer
Utah Navajo Health System, Inc.
Becky Creighton, MPH
Health Program Manager of Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
Sonia Dale, RN, CN-BN
Bureau Director, Community Wellness Clinic
Utah County Health Department
Cari Herington, MBA
Executive Director
Nevada Cancer Coalition
Star Jones, CPM
Unit Manager of Cancer and Chronic Disease Prevention
Wyoming Department of Health
Michael Kourianos
Mayor
Price City, Utah
Morgan Marietti, MHP
Associate Director of Cancer Center Partnerships
American Cancer Society
Ofa Vista Matagi, MPA
Executive Director
Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition
José Melendrez, MSW
Chair
Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition
Chief Diversity Officer
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Marie Nagata
Program Manager of Health Promotion and Prevention
Utah Department of Health and Human Services
Gabriela Portugal-Bouza, MD
Director, Cancer Programs
Alliance Community Services
Jasmine Surina
Chief Executive Officer (Interim)
Cancer Support Community - Montana
Mark Wamsley, MBA
Section Supervisor of Cancer Control Programs
Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
Diana Wiig
Cancer Advocate
Members Bios
Mallory Carvalho
Mallory Carvalho is a dedicated social work professional and childhood cancer advocate based in Southern Nevada. She is currently pursuing her Master of Social Work in Management and Community Practice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she integrates lived experience, research, and program development to support children, families, and communities impacted by serious illness.
Mallory completed her Bachelor of Arts in Childhood Studies from Rutgers University–Camden, where she was recognized for her academic excellence, leadership, and civic engagement. She earned the Outstanding Senior Award in Childhood Studies and was also honored with the Chancellor’s Award for Student Civic Engagement, reflecting her strong commitment to service, youth empowerment, and community-based work.
Her advocacy journey began at age 16 after being diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer and receiving treatment at Cure 4 The Kids Foundation. That experience shaped her passion for healthcare equity, psychosocial support, and survivor-led advocacy. She later returned to Cure 4 The Kids Foundation in professional roles supporting communications, development, and patient-centered initiatives. She has also contributed to organizations including the Nevada Cancer Coalition, Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada, Make A Wish Nevada, and other mission-driven nonprofits focused on improving outcomes for children and families.
Mallory is passionate about building bridges between clinical care, community support, and policy change. Through research, program development, and direct work with youth and families, she aims to elevate survivor voices, strengthen systems of care, and advance childhood cancer advocacy on both local and national levels.
Byron Clarke, JD, MBA
Byron works as an administrator with the Utah Navajo Health System and has been there for 13 years. He grew up in Blanding, UT near the Navajo Nation and is a proud member of his community in Southeastern Utah. His wife and kids enjoy living in rural Utah and the great outdoors.
Becky Creighton, MPH
Becky, an Idaho native, has overseen the Idaho Comprehensive Cancer Control Program for the past five years. In this role, she leads a concerted effort to reduce cancer risk, help to find cancers earlier, improve and increase access to quality cancer care, and improve the health and well-being of cancer survivors throughout Idaho. Becky serves on the Board for the Idaho Comprehensive Cancer Alliance for Idaho and the Idaho Harm Reduction Project’s nonprofit, as well as Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Community Advisory Board. Prior to this, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the West African country of Benin.
Sonia Dale, RN, CN-BN
Sonia Dale is a registered nurse with a specialization in breast cancer navigation, holding the certification as a Certified Nurse Breast Cancer Navigator (CN-BN). With over 20 years of clinical experience, Sonia has been a support for countless patients and families as an oncology nurse and breast and cervical cancer screener. She has navigated patients through the complexities of breast and cervical cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, navigating them to the right services in the community. Currently serving as the Community Wellness Bureau Director at the Utah County Health Department, Sonia oversees the Utah Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program at the local health department by guiding patients through their healthcare journey and ensuring they receive timely and personalized care.
Cari Herington, MBA
As Executive Director for the Nevada Cancer Coalition, I oversee an amazing coalition team and engage partners across the state from public health to corporate stakeholders passionate about working together on cancer control and access to quality healthcare. Some of my most favorite parts of this job include building unique programs to address cancer prevention and early detection and drafting and advocating for policies to increase access to care. Having lost my father to metastatic melanoma, and other dear family and friends to cancer, I am extremely grateful every day to have this opportunity to make a difference. My 20-year-old daughters are skilled skin cancer prevention advocates at their respective universities, always with sunscreen on hand. I love living in the Reno/Tahoe area and enjoy all the beautiful outdoor activities it offers from hiking and trail running to snow sports in the winter months. Truly grateful for this life!
Star Jones, CPM
Star has a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational leadership from the University of Wyoming, and recently completed a Community of Public Health Certificate Program. She has been with the Wyoming Department of Health’s Cancer Program for the last eight years. In her role as Unit Manager, she is responsible for providing the Cancer and Chronic Disease Prevention Program’s with a strategic vision and leadership to decrease the burden of cancer and chronic diseases for Wyoming residents. Star also serves on the Wyoming Cancer Coalition Steering Committee.
Michael Kourianos
Michael Kourianos is a lifelong resident of Price, Utah, deep roots in the community. His family immigrated from the island of Crete, Greece to Price, Utah to work in the coal industry where many of his relatives spent their lives in the coal mines. Breaking the mold of his family tradition, Michael chose a different path in energy production. Mike has dedicated 48 years to working at the Huntington and Hunter power plants with Pacific Corp serving the last 28 years as an operations supervisor at the Huntington plant. In addition to his professional career, Michael has served as the Mayor of Price for the past eight years. In this role, he has worked tirelessly to strengthen the infrastructure and to promote the health and well-being of the community he loves. Michael takes pride in his heritage, his career in the power industry, and his lifelong commitment to the people of Price.
Morgan Marietti, MHP
Leading the fight for a world without cancer has always been a bold and audacious goal that Morgan has pursued. As the Associate Director of Cancer Center Partnerships, Morgan is committed to end cancer as we know it by working across the entire cancer care continuum to engage cancer center partners through convening, implementing evidence-based strategies, sharing resources, cultivating health care champions and driving system policies and practices to improve the lives of patients with cancer and their families. Additionally, she is a stage 2b survivor of synovial sarcoma cancer and a caregiver/friend to many others who have been impacted by this disease. While the cancer community is not something you choose to join willingly, Morgan’s personal journey has shifted her perspective on both life and her career in every way. She is an extremely passionate advocate for all humans impacted by this disease, but her strongest interests include holistic human-centered care and research, increasing supportive services for the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer community and supporting all efforts to increase awareness and opportunities for fertility to be preserved within one’s cancer journey. Morgan resides in Salt Lake City with her life partner, Beau, and they are the proud parents to their treat-loving, fur companion Whitney. Thankfully Morgan and her family were able to preserve their fertility options prior to beginning cancer treatment. Thanks to a successful onco-fertility frozen embryo transfer, Morgan is proud to share with you that they are expecting their first child, due summer 2024.
Ofa Vista Matagi, MPA
Ofa was appointed to UPIHC (Utah Pacific Islander Health Coalition) Fall of 2023 as the Executive Director. Her esteemed record of ongoing advocacy to promote equity, empowerment, and community-building are great assets to UPIHC’s mission-driven programs. Prior to UPIHC, Ofa served as Utah Clean Energy’s Access & Equity Associate and has 10+ years working in SSA law, Estate Planning and higher education. She brings a wealth of experience and practical expertise to the role, as demonstrated through over a decade of servant leadership with organizations like the YWCA of Utah, Salt Lake County Planning Commission, Tracy Aviary, and the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander State Caucus. She is a strong proponent of civic engagement and actively supports efforts that empower women to run for elected office. As such, she is also a former candidate of the Utah House of Representatives HD33 in West Valley City and in the future will seek office again. At this time Ofa currently serves on the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission, NeighborWorks of Salt Lake Community Engagement Steering Committee and a Westside Leadership Institute Fundamentals Course Instructor. Lastly, newly appointed to serve as a member on Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Community Advisory Board.
José Melendrez, MSW
José Melendrez, interim vice president of diversity initiatives and chief diversity officer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has in-depth experience in diversity, equity, and multicultural programming, community organizing, and use of community-based participatory research. He is also experienced in social justice education and advocacy as it pertains to equity initiatives for diverse populations. Melendrez is the former executive director for the Office of Community Partnerships in the School of Public Health and was responsible for coordinating and building partnerships that support student and faculty initiatives. He worked with community-based organizations and public health agencies to support internships, research, and educational programming. Melendrez coordinated recruitment strategies to increase the diversity of students in the School of Public Health. Melendrez is a founding member and chair for the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition.
Marie Nagata
Marie has worked in public health for over 30 years. She currently is the Program Manager at Utah Department of Health and Human Services, overseeing the Breast & Cervical Cancer Screening Program, the Comprehensive Cancer Program, and the Health Resource Center. Her focus has always been ensuring everyone has equal access to care. In her spare time, she hangs out with her family or has her nose in a book.
Gabriela Portugal-Bouza
Dr. Gabriela Portugal graduated from medicine in Mexico City and worked for a contract research organization as a clinical research associate and project leader in clinical trials on phases II, III and IV where she acquired experience in multi-national, multi-center studies in North America and Latin America in the areas of pediatric oncology, oncology, pediatric gastroenterology, diabetes, HIV, central nervous system, women's health, respiratory, diabetes, gastroenterology, pediatric dermatology, vaccines and immunology among others.
Currently, Dr. Portugal is the Director of Cancer programs at the community-based organization Alliance Community Services and coordinates Triunfadoras, the only Hispanic Cancer Survivors Support Group in Utah. Her focus is to provide support for projects to obtain free or low-cost health resources as well as to participate in the support group as a speaker in topics of general health and lifestyle.
As the Director of Cancer programs, her grant writing skills have brought funding to provide mental health support and genomic testing to the Triunfadoras group members, as well as to implement early detection programs for fatty liver in Hispanics to prevent liver cancer,
Her other interests include cancer prevention through HPV vaccination, and she is an active member of the Mountain West HPV Vaccination Coalition to partner up to increase vaccination among Hispanics and create access to education and resources for parents and young adults.
She is a community representative at the University of Utah Institutional Review Board, a member of the Governing Board of Donnor Connect, and advocate for organ donation education. Additionally, she recently joined the Community Advisory Board at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
At the Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City, she is the director of the Ventanilla de Salud since March 2023, and in this capacity, her role is to create partnerships to bring resources to those who visit the health office.
Her passion for research in disease prevention within the Hispanic/Latino community drives her professional endeavors. She has collaborated with healthcare professionals from various institutions to create a network of opportunities to improve health outcomes for this community.
Jasmine Surina
Jasmine Surina comes from a background of healthcare and small business management and has been in the nonprofit sector with Cancer Support Community Montana for four years. Jasmine currently serves as Interim CEO and has a passion for helping and giving back to others, especially Montanans impacted by cancer.
Mark Wamsley, MBA
Mark Wamsley is the Montana Cancer Control Programs section supervisor. Wamsley brings 17+ years of experience in Cancer and the Chronic Disease Bureau, with the last 15 years as the Montana Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program manager. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with Montana’s local health departments and community partners. Prior to joining the State of Montana, he spent 20 years serving in the United States Navy in the intelligence field, partnering with the National Intelligence Agency as well as other intelligence-related entities. He is excited for this opportunity to help grow partnerships with Huntsman Cancer Institute and the regional partners they serve.
Diana Wiig
My professional background is in education. I taught 20 years at the elementary level, then spent 15 years at the University of Wyoming teaching science/math methods for prospective teachers. I developed the SBOCES Resident Astronomy program and guided students in exploring the cosmos for 20 years. I have served on various committees at the national level (National Science Teachers of America) for the Outstanding Science Trade Books committee. I’ve reviewed testing materials and textbooks for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. In collaboration with ETS (Educational Testing Service) I was part of a team of science and math teachers that evaluated the validity and reliability of test items. In my spare time, I’m an avid reader, knitter, crocheter, weaver, and musician. I also do a little boxing on the side.
